Floor mat



Feb. 15, 1955 IN V EN TOR. #7005 J} Arr-malty;

United States Patent FLOOR MAT Dudley W. Moor, Jr., Toledo, Ohio,assignor to American Mat Corporation, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation ofDelaware Application November 22, 1950, Serial No. 197,003

The terminal portion of the term of the patent extending beyond February11, 1966, has been disclaimed 1 Claim. (Cl. 15-215) This inventionrelates to floor mats and more particularly to floor mats of the typecommonly used on floors in heavily travelled locations and frequentlyfabricated from resilient materials such as rubber, reinforced rubber,artificial or synthetic materials and the like.

This invention has for its principal object the provision of a floor matwhich permits effective drainage of water from its upper surface to thefloor on which the mat rests and then along the floor beneath the mat toits edges where it can evaporate or can be otherwise removed.

An equally important object of this invention is to provide a floor mathaving an under surface so designed as to resist movement of the floormat along an inclined floor regardless of the direction of inclinerelative to the position of the mat thereon.

These and more specific objects and advantages will be apparent from thedrawings in which:

Fig. l is a fragmentary view in perspective of a portion of a matembodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary bottom view of a mat embodying the invention;and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially onthe line 33 of Fig. 2.

A mat embodying the invention consists of a generally flat body on theupper surface of which are formed a plurality of groups of upwardlyextending spaced ribs 11. The ribs 11 may be formed as shown in Fig. 1in small groups, for example, in grougs of three and between each groupof ribs 11 there may e located spaced webs 12 and flat projections 13thus givin the that an irregular broken upper surface. In the em odimeutof the mat shown in Fig. 1 the projections 13 are longitudinally spacedfrom the webs 12 thus providing openings 14 between the upper and lowersurfaces of the mat through which water and dirt can be carried toprevent the accumulation of such substances on the upper surface of themat. The particular relative sizes of the ribs 11, webs 12, surfaces 13and openings 14 and their relative locations are not at all critical andare dictated solely by considerations of design and wearing ability ofthe mat.

The under surface of the mat body 10 has a plurality of relativelyclosely spaced raised ribs 15 which extend over the entire under surfaceof the body 10 being interrupted, of course, by the openings 14 leadingthrough the body 10. It should be noted that the ribs 15 extenddiagonally with respect to the ribs 11 on the upper surface of the mat.This is essential and constitutes the crux of the instant invention. Theprovision of the diagonally 2,701,890 Patented Feb. 15, 1955 extendingribs 15 produces the result that no matter whether the mat is placedwith the upper ribs 11 extending transversely of an inclined surface orlongitudinally thereof, the diagonal ribs 15 extend at least generallyacross or transversely of the surface and thus resist the sliding actionof the mat on the surface resulting from people walking on the mat.Furthermore, with the u per ribs 11 extending either along or across theincline surface, the lower ribs 15, since they extend diagonally,effectively direct the flow of water under the mat to the edges of themat and the flexing movement of the material from which the mat isconstructed under the pressures created by the feet of persons walkingon the mat acts to "wipe the water along the channels formed by theunder ribs 15 to the edges of the mat body 10 where it can be moreeasily cleaned away.

Thus a mat embodying the invention can be used on any inclined surfacewithout fear of water being trapped beneath the mat where it may becomestagnant or where its presence may cause the mat to rot at a higher ratethan would normally take place and furthermore the diagonal under ribs15 greatly increase the tenacity with which a mat embodying theinvention clings on an inclined surface, tending to prevent its slidingalong such surface and substantially eliminating the necessity forfrequently moving the mat back up the surface. These two considerationsare particularly important where the mat is of large size and is used,for example, on a large ramp exposed to heavy traffic. Similarly,however, the diagonal bottom ribs 15 are of importance in smaller matsbecause they increase the friction between the mat and the surface andhelp retain the mat in place even against sharp sudden pressures,whether in the direction ogorliransverse to the direction of extensionof the upper 1! s Having described my invention, I claim:

A floor mat having an integral, unitary, resilient body, a plurality ofupwardly projecting, parallel continuous ridges on its upper surface,said ridges extending across said body from side to side parallel to oneof its major edges and being arranged in spaced groups each consistingof several ridges, there being a plurality of generally rectilinearlyarranged spaced drainage openings extending through said body in thespaces between said groups of ridges, from one surface of said body tothe other, and a plurality of downwardly projecting parallel ridges onthe lower surface of said body extending across said body diagonally tothe edges of said body and to said upper ridges, some of said lowerridges at least being interrupted by the drainage openings in said body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Moor,Jr. Feb. 12, 1952 Chaffee Feb. 16, 1858 MacLellan et al. 5 May 24, 1881Yates Mar. 5, 1912

